All Minor Chords

All chords require at least three different notes. If there are only three notes then to make a minor chord you must select the root, flat third, and fifth of the respective major scale. If for example you are working with the C major scale the notes of that scale are: C D E F G A B C. The C major chord would have a C E G in the chord. The E is the third of the C major scale. To make a C minor chord you would need to lower the E one half-tone to E flat.

For the Am chord the notes are: A C E
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For the Bbm (B flat minor chord the notes are: Bb Db F
(This is the same as A# minor)
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For the Bm chord the notes are: B D F#
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For the Cm chord the notes are: C Eb G
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etc.

The graphic shows the notes for all the minor chords, but you will need to remember that some chords have two names depending upon the perspective you are using. (Going upward in a sharp direction or downward in a flat direction.) The minor chord does feel a bit sad when played, but can be a great chord in a progression of chords.

If you look at a family of chords that might work together when looking at an entire major scale and we consider the C major scale for now it is likely that the C major chord,, the Dm chord, the Em chord, the F major chord, the G7th chord, the A minor chord, and the Bm chord would form a family of chords that might work well if you were trying to stay somewhat within the C major scale.

Extended names are often used in such "families" like an A minor 7, the D minor 7, etc. help to give the minor chord more flexibility because it sounds more than the basic three notes. When we hear more than three notes we then have the ability to move in more directions in our progression of chords or even with our melody. A common chord progression is for example C, Am, F, and G7. Such a progression is referred sometimes as a: I, VIm, IV, V7 chord progression.

Once you know the progression in the Roman Number format you can then change to another major scale relatively easily. If you now wanted to transpose the C, Am, F, and G7 progression first to I, VIm, IV, V7 and then into the key of G you would only need to know the G major scale and apply the same progression.
In the key of G the chords would be: G, Em, C, and D7. This is the same I, VIm, IV, V7 chord progression - just starting on G not C.

Remember minor chords are built from the flat third of their respective major scale, this means that you are going down a half tone. You may then be forced to name the major scale based on a "flat" because you do not want to mix flats and sharps in the same scale. If for example you are trying to make a Bb minor chord, you would use the Bb major scale not the A# major scale which is enharmonically the same sound. Use the graphic, it helps.